Strange disappearances aren’t the only thing “wrong” with the eerie Lake; there are also stories about a sea monster living within the lake. Called “South Bay Bessie,” this monster has been around since the Erie and Iroquois Native Americans spoke about a giant sturgeon living within the lake capable of swallowing their boats while trying to cross the lake to get to the many small islands therein. In The Cleveland Plain Dealer of June 16, 1985, Dr. Charles E. Herdendorf, professor emeritus of The Ohio State University Department of Zoology, declared that it was indeed possible for a gigantic fish to survive within Lake Erie given just the number of walleyes present in the lake. Sturgeons have been known to live as long as 100 years old and to continue growing during their whole lives, according to the professor. And their usual bottom-dwelling lifestyle would explain why Bessie hasn’t been caught or seen that frequently. The professor also gave “South Side Bessie” a scientific name of Vertebrate Chordata Ichthyoreptilia Obscuriformes Obscuridae Obscure Eriensis Huronii, which means “obscure Lake Erie life form.” The Dayton Daily News of 10/7/90 told the story of Bob Soracco who was jet skiing on the lake in late summer. Soracco got the scare of his life when he witnessed something that looked like “a huge porpoise” and described it as “big, black, and had gray spots.” So even though there has never been any specific reports of Deep One-like creatures within the Lake (unlike in Southern Ohio where “the Loveland Frog” made an appearance to two police officers prior to it jumping into the Little Miami River) there is something perhaps literally fishy going on at the bottom of Lake Erie. Of course, there is something else a bit nasty down under that murky water. A little thing known innocently as Kelley’s Tunnel. Among the small islands dotting the waters of Lake Erie is an island known as Kelley’s Island. The place is named for Datus Kelley, a businessman that owned the large limestone quarry upon the west shore of the island. Here, in the 1840s, immigrant workers from Italy dug a tunnel through the island and out under the lake itself. A vein of limestone was discovered leading from Kelley’s Island to Marblehead where another quarry was set up. Having more concern for profit than the lives of non-Anglo Saxons, the foremen forced the workers to continue mining tunnel under the Lake. Eventually, the workers began to fear for their safety. Working underground, miles under tons of water, understandably made them feel nervous. It got to the point where the workers were beginning to become violent in their language toward the supervisors. And one day, August 9, 1849, part of the tunnel collapsed. And dozens of men were trapped within the tunnel with no way out. The disaster forced the quarry to close down and Kelley’s Island gave up the limestone industry, but the memory of the incident remained. Forever after, it was said that ships carrying limestone from one of the other islands would have misfortune whenever it crossed that part of the sea, which existed over the tunnel. And legend has it that the ghosts of those workers still haunt that stale-air filled Kelley’s Tunnel below the waters, walking back and forth along the tunnel waiting for someone to dig down and save them. I’ll get to my own observations on the city of Cleveland itself in another posting.